Cygnus

Overview

Achieve truly extraordinary sound.

The Cygnus is designed for the way audiophiles listen to music today and the way they will listen to it in the future. It combines an advanced digital-to-analog converter with digital file access and browsing capabilities. Audiophiles can easily access music files stored on hard drives or USB sticks, and can use the Cygnus to achieve truly extraordinary sound from digital sources as diverse as satellite radio, cable and satellite TV set-top boxes, and of course the traditional CD player.

Unlikely to be equalled.

A DSP-based digital filter of our own design not only achieves optimum performance from the 32/192 DAC, it also allows the user to fine-tune the sound by selecting different filters. Numerous filter profiles, such as minimum-phase, phase-perfect, Bessel and Butterworth, are available. Although it probably sounds very technical, there's no engineering knowledge needed -- just try the different filters and pick the one that best suits the system or the music.

As its name suggests, the Cygnus is so far beyond the capabilities and quality of a standard DAC or disc player that it belongs in its own product category. It is sure to be emulated, but unlikely to be equalled.

Features

USB input for digital file playback

The Cygnus plays digital music files stored on any USB hard drive or thumb drive. FLAC, WAV and AIFF files are supported.

Legacy digital inputs

Five inputs are provided to connect digital source devices such as CD players and satellite radios.

Optional USB computer input

Interfaces the Cygnus directly with a computer for playback of files stored on the computer's hard drive.

Quad 32-bit/192-kHz DAC

In a fully complementary arrangement, the Cygnus uses two 32/192 DACs per channel: one for the positive half of the audio signal, the other for the negative half. This balanced design delivers even the subtlest details of any recording details most DACs tend to obscure.

Custom digital filter

In order to deliver the best possible quality from the quad 32/192 DAC, we developed our own DSP-based digital filter. The listener can choose from several filter profiles, whichever best suits the music.

Fully balanced digital and analog circuitry

From the digital inputs to the XLR outputs, the audio signal is fully balanced. Using Constellation Audio's Line Stage Gain Module allows us to achieve perfect balance of the positive and negative halves of the audio signal for maximum fidelity.

Browse digital music files from smartphones and tablets

Constellation Audio provides apps for Apple iOS and Android devices, so you can browse the digital files on a USB drive using your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Android. It's as convenient and user-friendly as an iPod but vastly better-sounding.

Full front-panel control

The 432 x 230-pixel front screen allows browsing of digital files from a USB drive, and also provides access to all of the user adjustments available on the Cygnus.

Machined aluminium chassis

The Cygnus' precision circuits are housed in a solid machined aluminium enclosure with a minimum wall thickness of 8.2mm. Only an enclosure wall this thick can block interference from 50/60 Hz household circuits. The mass of the heavy chassis also helps damp external vibration that might affect the Cygnus' precision audio circuitry.

Separate power supply

In order to isolate the sensitive analog audio circuits from interference emanating from the digital circuits, the Cygnus uses a separate power supply enclosure. The power supply actually houses two separate supply circuits: a high-quality linear supply with an R-core transformer to feed the analog circuits, and another supply to power the digital and control circuits.

Specifications

DAC inputs

1 AES/EBU, 2 RCA SPDIF, 2 TosLink, 1 USB (optional)

DAC outputs

RCA and XLR stereo analog audio

Supported digital file formats

FLAC, WAV, AIFF

Supported sampling rates/bit depth

Up to 192 kHz/32 bits on USB/AES/SPDIF
Up to 96 kHz/32 bits on COAX/AES/TosLink

Downloads

Awards

Jimmy Awards 2016

" Constellation Audio's Dream Team of designers consists of stars in the audio firmament. Among others, John Curl, Bascom King, Peter Madnick, and the late James Bongiorno have contributed to various aspects of Constellation product design. The legendary Irv Gross handles sales and marketing. "